South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday following overnight Wall Street gains, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 8.63 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,407.38 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Monday (local time), US stocks closed higher, with the Dow edging up 0.12 percent to its ninth-record closing high in a row and the S&P 500 adding 0.16 percent on consumer and technology sector gains.


Most large caps on the Seoul bourse traded mixed, with tech and medical shares leading the gain.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics added 1.35 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix was up 2.34 percent. The medical firm Samsung Biologics increased 0.89 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,125.80 won against the US dollar, up 1.30 won from the previous session's close.